Florida Atlantic University benefactor Harold Forkas dies

Harold Forkas, a retired business executive whose generosity to Florida Atlantic University led to construction of a long-awaited alumni center on the Boca Raton campus, died today at age 90.

He had been in poor health for eight months and passed away while under hospice care at Boca Raton Community Hospital. FAU flags on all campuses will be lowered in his memory on Thursday, April 23, the day of his funeral service.

“Florida Atlantic University has lost a true friend,” said FAU President Frank T. Brogan. “In becoming the lead donors for our alumni center, Harold and his wife, Marleen, gave the university a gift of incalculable value that will forever link them to FAU. The FAU community joins Marleen in mourning the passing of this great philanthropist and wonderful human being.”

A native of Woodridge in New York’s Catskill Mountains, Mr. Forkas began his career in 1935 in Manhattan, working in the office supply business.

He subsequently joined the sales staff of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company and soon advanced to a management position. After becoming a successful entrepreneur through the acquisition and operation of eight Midas Muffler franchises, Mr. Forkas and his wife, Marleen, retired to Boca Raton in 1988.

Their involvement with FAU included supporting the university’s football team by joining the Inner Circle of Football Founders, and they regularly cheered for the Owls at both home and away games.

Their $1.1 million donation to the university, made in 2005, funded construction of the Marleen and Harold Forkas Alumni Center, a 14,000-square-foot facility on the Boca Raton campus that has become a “home away from home” for the more than 100,000 men and women who have received degrees from FAU over the course of the university’s 45-year history.

Last year FAU formally recognized the couple’s enormous contributions to the life of the university by conferring the President’s Distinguished Service Medallion upon them.
They have also been significant benefactors of the B’nai Torah Congregation and major supporters of the Boca Ballet, Boca Raton Community Hospital, the American Heart Association and numerous other well-known charities in Boca Raton.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Forkas is survived by a sister, Lillian Kaplan of Clermont, Florida; a brother, Joseph Forrest of Boynton Beach, Florida; two daughters, Tangee Williams of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Janice Gilbert (Sel) of Aventura, Florida; four grandchildren, Randi Zimmerman (Mitchell) of Jericho, New York, Tammy Rubin Knipe (James) of West Chester, Pennsylvania, Gina Young (Michael) of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, and Jennifer Gilbert of Aventura, Florida; and four great-grandchildren, Jamie and Jake Zimmerman and Alexis and Amanda Rubin.